ENGINEERING

Alumni Profile

Daniel Eekhoff

Many engineering students would be excited if they knew that, after college, they would be involved in nation building, urban development, or military intelligence. Dan Eekhoff graduated from Dordt College in 2000 with an engineering degree, and since then, he’s had many government-related engineering jobs in Iowa, Virginia, and now Missouri.

Dan said he’s grateful for the hands-on learning experience provided by Dordt’s engineering program and for the professors with progressive mindsets. He added that Dordt’s smaller size allows it to move well with the times and permits the professors to work more closely with their students.

While Dan was at Dordt, he had opportunities to intern for two local companies, which gave him the knowledge he needed for his first job at Economy Forms Corporation (EFCO). After training in Des Moines, he moved to Virginia to work on projects such as the Virginia Tech Stadium Expansion, the Richmond Convention Center, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

In 2003, Dan changed jobs and started working as a cost analyst at Wyle Laboratories. In following years, he worked at Jacobs Sverdrup Technology before becoming the project manager General Dynamics, where he headed projects for the Marine Corps Transparent Armor Gun Shields (MCTAGS) and Drivers Vision Enhancement (DVE) infrared display systems.

Since 2008, Dan has functioned as the project leader on many government intelligence defense projects, managing teams of engineers, scientists, and physicists at Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. The organization is responsible for research and development of U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security. Dan didn’t know where his engineering degree would take him when he came to Dordt in 1996, but one step at a time, he’s found his way.